Like a phoenix

It's been an incredibly long week and a half here in Vermont, where the calendar says it's spring but we're still having below zero temps at night and snow on and off. I want to tell you a little about our farm and our family. I am the oldest child of five and our parents are the rare teenage parents that stayed together, 38 years married this year. They have 8 amazing grandkids ages 4 months to 15.

(Pop with my nephew Daniel) 

My dad worked on farms his whole life and always dreamed of owning his own farm and herd of cows someday. He and my mom finally realized that dream about 25 years ago when they bought a herd of dairy cows and for 18 years we rented various farms around the state. Things fell into place 7 years ago and we were finally able to buy a farm in Williamstown, VT. In order to get to that point they had to sacrifice so much over the years, used cars instead of new, shopping at the secondhand store to buy clothes, but the whole family agreed it was worth it. That's what made the morning of March 17th that much harder. We lost our small organic dairy farm to a devastating fire; the barn, half the herd, and around 100 other small animals all gone. 

(Our dreams)